TKenrick

Reading is a very useful skill for accessing information quickly, not only in gig situations but also for your general musical life. It also means that music written for any instrument is now fair game, which can help you sound less like every other bass player out there. On the subject of reading on gigs, it depends hugely on the sort of gigs that you go for - obviously, any sort of musical theatre or cruise work will require it, but there are plenty of function bands out there that use written arrangements. It definitely means that you can 'slot in' to more gigs at short notice without any prior preparation. Another fringe benefit of getting better at reading music is that your writing skills will improve, meaning that it takes you much less time to put together decent charts. This can cut down on gig prep time massively, regardless of whether you actually use the charts on the gig or not. When it comes to learning to read, there are a few practice strategies and books that I'd recommend:

I must admit that it's my least favourite envelope, and it got sold soon after the review!

This is probably my favourite disco groove of all time. Great work from Jimmy Williams on a track that nearly got given to The O'Jays: McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now bass transcription PDF

Some of my favourite books for working on sight reading and some tips to maximise your practising efficiency:

I always thought that this was an American band... Here's a classic slice of US soul from Merseyside: The Real Thing - 'You To Me Are Everything' bass transcription pdf

This is a tune that appears periodically on set lists and always appears to have fallen out of my brain. Delightfully sloppy bass playing from Ronnie Wood: Rod Stewart - 'Maggie May' bass transcription pdf

This is such a great version, Greg Phillinganes plays some ridiculous stuff! I seem to remember some lengthy debates on here as to whether or not Anthony Jackson was doubling the synth or not... Anyway, found this lurking on my hard drive. Not one of my transcriptions and I haven't played through it, but it looks good - I tried to find the original link but couldn't. Chaka Khan - We Can Work It Out.pdf

Had a request competition from my email subscribers and here's the winning entry - George Porter Jr in fine form... The Meters - 'Funkify Your Life' Transcription

@stewblack@Reggaebass thanks so much for the kind words, really means a lot!

I've collected an embarrassing amount of instructional material over the years; some books are brilliant, others somewhat mediocre, but there's one in particular that I think is by far the worst...

Joe Dart playing lots of notes in a short amount of time:

More first dance fodder from wedding season: Aerosmith - 'I Don't Want To Miss a Thing'

FWIW I don't think it's necessarily a purely British thing, I have a similar experience with Talkbass, YouTube and my website - people are always very quick to point out when something is wrong, but more reluctant to give praise.

Great choice of tune, this was on my list so you've saved me the trouble. Cheers!

Lost count of the number of times I've played this as a first dance... Note-for-note transcription HERE: Al Green 'Let's Stay Together' bass transcription PDF

At the risk of being nauseatingly self-promoting, I wrote a few articles about how to practise; finding a teacher, time management and staying motivated, because I struggle with all of those things and often find myself stuck in a rut and frustrated that my playing isn't where it should be after 18 years... I'd give a big +1 to Chris' suggestion of getting lessons, it's good to have somebody else to hold you accountable for your playing and practice. Skype has really opened things up so you can get a lesson with pretty much anyone you want. Links are here: • Find a teacher • Tracking your practice/time management • Removing obstacles to practising • Making new habits stick

Is it the Rockschool one? If so, someone has done a play along that might be useful:

This came up on a gig last week and was surprisingly fun to play, although that might be down to gratuitous octave pedal usage... Bruno Mars - 'Runaway Baby' Bass Transcription PDF

Jack bought a pedaltrain nano from me. Great to deal with from start to finish, swift comms and prompt payment. Cheers!

A little look at DOD's original squelchy green box, both on its own and in conjunction with octave pedal and distortion:

But wait, aren't they supposed to have a new record out really soon? 🤣 Sorry, couldn't resist. Definitively one of my favourite bands but damn, they really drag their heels between albums.

Feel free to use anything from https://instagram.com/tommykrizzle, plenty of bass stuff (and the occasional cat, for variety...)

Want to get into transcription? Here's half an hour of me talking about why I do what I do and how I do it: New chart just added for Queen's 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love': Crazy Little Thing Called Love bass transcription PDF